Jeffrey Sparshott of The Wall Street Journalsays "the cost of renting a home is rising faster than wages across wide swaths of the country, a problem that has become especially acute in the past year, putting a big squeeze on many household budgets." Why is rent rising so much faster? Well, it is simple supply and demand: "the job market has improved and millennials are entering the labor pool force, boosting household formation. But in a structural shift for the real-estate market, new households are much more likely to be renters than buyers."

For instance, in 2015's first quarter, "the number of U.S. households was up by almost 1.5 million from a year earlier, the second consecutive quarter of relatively strong growth following years of only tepid gains. But the net increase was entirely due to renters, while the number of home owner-occupied households fell slightly. That's broadly been the case since the housing bust, with new household formation consistently coming from renters rather than buyers. "

And which population is feeling the rent increases the most? Turns out it is millennials. "From 2003 to 2013, the share of renters aged 25 to 34 who are considered cost-burdened increased from 40% to 46%, according to a recent report by Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies."